The blog of Berit Francis

Philanthropy – a few upcoming St. Jude events to put on your calendars!!!

In conjunction with part 1 and 2 of my St. Jude pre and post scan report, I wanted to simply announce a couple of terrific upcoming events I’ll be directly involved with in the next several months ahead.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Since it’s late July, I didn’t feel it was too early to start talking about two upcoming fundraising events taking place during September for St. Jude.

First off, The J. McLaughlin store in the Galleria in Edina has agreed to host a “Sip and Shop” evening within the store. Tentatively, we are planning to host this event during the second week of Fashion Week and considering the date of Thursday, September 17th as our first option. It would be an opportunity to shop at this wonderful store and have a portion of the proceeds from the sales that evening go back to St. Jude. I’ll be sending out more information in the next few weeks but wanted to make this brief tentative announcement. I’m so grateful to the store manager, Judy, for suggesting the idea and arranging a meeting with some key Galleria management staff to talk about other opportunities.

On Saturday, September 19th there is a nation wide walk in support of St. Jude. Previously, the walk in Minnesota was in November. St. Jude combined all of the national walks taking place across the country and chose this alternative walk date this year. At least some of my family members and I will be walking again this year on the Dylan Witschen Team to honor our friend Dylan who was also a St. Jude kid and courageously fought cancer at the same time as Marit.

Anyone interested may sign up at: stjude.org/walkrun

Thirdly, I (along with the local St. Jude representatives) have been in discussion to partner with the Galleria and its various tenants for a new family oriented event in October which I will definitely be enthused to talk more about once plans are solidified. An event of this kind will definitely be new to both the mall and St. Jude but will sure to be a fun, creative endeavor for the kids of St. Jude.

Fourth and Finally, plans are already well underway for the official 4th Red Carpet for Hope Gala (the 3rd Golden Globes viewing party) on the evening of January 10th, 2016. The gala has continued to grow and change each year. This years gala will be at The Depot in downtown Minneapolis. We are hoping it will attract even more people. The gala has expanded from the original market of just “little old Minneapolis” to 5 major cities this year including Chicago, Miami, Orland and Houston. The Hollywood Foreign Press has chosen St. Jude as their single sanctioned charity for the evenings production. In addition, the Golden Globes will be shown with “cuts” into each of the galas to the Target House in Memphis where the majority of the patients and families reside during treatment.

Last year a local coinciding “Teen Gala” (an off shoot of the main gala) raised an amazing 41, 000. The teens planned and executed the event in about 8 short weeks. This year, Teens representing 5 schools in the area have already had their first meeting. They have collectively set a goal of raising 100,000 this year. A lofty goal but one many (including me) are confident they will achieve!!!

In closing, I am posting a short little video made by St. Jude highlighting coverage from last years Teen Gala! It doesn’t fit in this blog venue so you have to view it via my FB page!

If ANYONE reading this has nay interest in helping support St. Jude via helping in ANY way (volunteering, contributing financially, being a spokesperson/ambassador by talking about these events etc.), please contact me.

Again, I am so grateful for all the exceptional care and love we received at St. Jude. I hope to continue supporting the hospital for the rest of my life and would welcome having anyone else who is interested to help out too.

Thanks for reading about these few upcoming events-more details will follow in the weeks to come!